Arnold Frank Hills (12 March 1857 – 7 March 1927) was an English businessman, sportsman, philanthropist, and promoter of

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

Biography

Hills was born in

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, son of a manufacturing chemist. Arnold Hills was also a keen sportsman who was the English mile (1878) and three-mile champion (1879), and in his youth had played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and cricket (he was Captain of the 1st XI) for his school team Harrow. After leaving Harrow he attended

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

, where he earned the degree of

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(1880) and two football blues. He appeared as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as they finished runners-up in the

1877 FA Cup Final The 1877 FA Cup Final was a football match between Wanderers and Oxford University on 24 March 1877 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the sixth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (kno ...

against Wanderers. He continued to play as an amateur for Old Harrovians after he left, even winning a Corinthian's Cap whilst there; for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 5 April 1879 at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

, when England won 5–4. In addition to his vegetarian activism, Hills was Managing Director of the

Thames Iron Works The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek (England), Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth, Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall, Lon ...

, a large

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

business in London which had existed since 1846. He chose to live for five years among his workers in a small house in the East India Dock Road in

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

and organised recreational centres for them. However, he caused some bitterness when there was a strike over poor pay and working conditions by employing 'black' labour. Considering his philanthropy, it must have been a situation that troubled him greatly. In the summer of 1895 Hills, along with Dave Taylor, helped found

Thames Ironworks F.C. Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor (Thames Ironworks F.C. founder), Dave Taylor in ...

, who later became

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He believed that his own local community should have its own football team and financially supported the football club until April 1900, when after increasing disagreements with West Ham's board members over the pursuit of 'professionalism', he broke formal ties with the club and the Thames Ironworks. Hills proposed a West Ham as a limited company and became the major shareholder, and encouraged business associates, family and his workmen to invest, promising to buy one share for every one sold to the public. He rented the

Memorial Grounds Memorial Grounds was the home stadium of East London football club Thames Ironworks from the beginning of the 1897–98 season, until the end of the 1899–1900 season. The team continued to play at the stadium, under its new name of West Ham ...

to the club at very favourable terms. Hills told the new directors he would not interfere in the running of the club and was true to his word and despite being by far the largest single shareholder never attended an AGM, ask to address a meeting or present any demands or suggestions. The failing fortunes of the ironworks and his involvement in developing a new car engine pushed the club into the background and he became a virtual invalid suffering from

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

. He died at Hammerfield,

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is situa ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in 1927 aged 69, and was buried at St Luke's Church in Penshurst. His shareholding in West Ham of 1100 out of 4000 (1142 shares remained unsold until 1961) passed to his family and the same arrangements remained. In 2014 as part of their preparation for their move to the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

, West Ham announced one of the corporate entertainment areas would be a private dining club, the Arnold Hills suite.

Vegetarianism

Hills was the first President of the

London Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed mea ...

(1888) serving alongside the young

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

on the Executive Committee. He was also the first President of the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Club and also served as President of a London Vegetarian Rambling Club. He founded ''The Vegetarian'', an independent magazine, as well as the

Vegetarian Federal Union The Vegetarian Federal Union (VFU) was a British vegetarianism organisation founded in 1889, which operated until 1911. History In July 1889, a group of individuals from the London Vegetarian Society met and drew up plans to form what would bec ...

(1889), of which he was also President. Hills also had close ties with the Temperance League. He founded the Oriolet Fruitarian Hospital at

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

, under the medical direction of

Josiah Oldfield Josiah Oldfield (23 February 1863 – 2 February 1953) was an English lawyer, physician and promoter of his own variant of fruitarianism which was virtually indistinguishable from lacto-ovo vegetarianism. He became a versatile author, a prolifi ...

. Hills authored ''Vital Food'' (1892) which argued for a plant-based

raw food Raw foodism, also known as rawism or a raw food diet, is the dietary practice of eating only or mostly food that is uncooked and unprocessed. Depending on the philosophy, or type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include ...

diet. Charles W. Forward's 1898 book on vegetarian history, ''Fifty Years of Food Reform'' was dedicated to Hills.Forward, Charles W. (1898)
''Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England''
London: The Ideal Publishing Union.

Publications

*''Vital Food'' (1892) *''Vegetarian Essays'' (1897) *''Essays on Vegetarianism'' (1910)

References

External links

nbsp;— information from the International Vegetarian Union
Arnold Hills
nbsp;— biography on the Oxford University Association Football Club website

nbsp;— information about the Thames Ironworks company {{DEFAULTSORT:Hills, Arnold 1857 births 1927 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Association football forwards British vegetarianism activists England international footballers English businesspeople English footballers English philanthropists English temperance activists FA Cup Final players Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth Old Harrovians F.C. players Oxford University A.F.C. players People associated with the Vegetarian Society People educated at Harrow School Raw foodists Wanderers F.C. players

Biography

Vegetarianism

Publications

References

Further reading

External links